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M.I.A. is going missing in action from Roc Nation.
The musician announced on New Year’s Eve that she’s leaving the Jay Z-founded management label, which she signed with in 2012. “Thank [sic] to everyone who supported the M.I.A #MATANGI LP,” she tweeted with her 2014 greetings.
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She then followed the announcement with a call for those who would like to work with her for future music ventures, asking them to send her their resumes.
M.I.A.’s sudden leave comes after her 2013 album release, Matangi, was delayed multiple times by Interscope. Last January, she cited creative differences as the reason for the wait, especially in light of her controversial middle finger during Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime performance.
“At the moment, I’ve been told it’s too positive,” she said. “So we’re having a bit of an issue at the label. They’re like, ‘You need to darken it up a bit.’ … It’s like, ‘We just built you up as the public enemy No. 1 and now you’re coming out with all this positive stuff.'” And in August, she threatened to leak the album herself in order to secure a hard release date.
Her corresponding documentary on the album’s production was also pulled by Roc Nation when director Steve Loveridge leaked its teaser. Roc Nation wrote to Loveridge that the teaser “screws with everything we’ve been working on setting up Matangi,” to which Loveridge responded with his resignation, “I really couldn’t give a flying fuck. Count me out. Would rather die than work on this… nothing personal :).”
Loveridge later rejoined the feature was then funded by U.K. based non-profit documentary support organization BRITDOC and co-produced with Yala Films.
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See her tweets below:
2013 i dlted old tweet to bring u this. im leaving @RocNation . Thank to everyone who supported the M.I.A #MATANGI LP. HAPPY NEW YEAR | 2014
— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) December 31, 2013
MIA 4 the people by the people, looking for young people to work in fields of ART production / MUSIC /MERCH / FILM / WEB / MARKETING SndCV
— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) January 1, 2014
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Roc Nation for comment.
Email: ashley.lee@THR.com
Twitter: @cashleelee
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